The separatists launched the blockade in response to the capture of one of their soldiers by the Ukrainian army. They demanded that the OSCE help secure the soldier’s release.
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On Saturday, however, protesters removed their tents in front of the hotel, according to Reuters, and OSCE observers left the building. One of the participants in the blockade identified the deteriorating situation around Covid-19 as the cause of the end of the protest.
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Foreign Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Natalia Nikonorova said that the protesters ended the blockade before the ban on public events, which will take effect on Monday due to the pandemic.
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“From Monday, this protest would be illegal,” she told Reuters by telephone.
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However, according to a source from Western diplomatic circles, it is possible that the separatists used the pandemic only as an excuse.
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“I think it’s a cover for an appeal (protest),” the source said. “A fig leaf to make sure it doesn’t look like a defeat,” he added.
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Conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted after protests in the country in 2014 overthrew pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
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Russia subsequently annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and supported the armed uprising of pro-Russian separatists in Donbas; However, Moscow denies that it is actively involved in the conflict.
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The great fighting in eastern Ukraine, which claimed 14,000 lives, subsided after the conclusion of peace agreements in Minsk in 2015. However, no ceasefire was fully maintained.
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